A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows that insect populations are rapidly declining even in relatively undisturbed landscapes, raising concerns about the health of ecosystems that depend on them. Keith Sockman, associate professor of biology at UNC-Chapel Hill, quantified the abundance of flying insects during 15 seasons between 2004 and 2024 on a subalpine meadow in Colorado, a site with 38 years of weather data and minimal direct human impact. He discovered an average annual decline of 6.6% in insect abundance, amounting to a 72.4% drop over the 20-year period. The study also found that this steep decline is associated with rising summer temperatures. "Insects have a unique, if inauspicious position in the biodiversity crisis due to the ecological services, such as nutrient cycling and pollination, they provide and to their vulnerability to environmental change," Sockman said. "Insects are necessary for terrestrial and fresh-water ecosystems to function."

A “catastrophic” collapse in shellfish numbers is being reported by Spanish fishers in Galicia, with some stocks falling by as much as 90% in the space of a few years. Galicia is Europe’s principal source of shellfish and, after China, the world’s biggest producer of mussels, which are farmed in the estuaries. But figures published by a fishing website this month reveal an alarming decline in cockles and clams, which are collected by hand at low tide, as well as mussels, which are farmed on ropes strung from wooden rafts known as bateas. In 2023 the crop of cockles fell by 80% compared with the previous year, while some varieties of clams fell by 78%. Mussel production last year was the lowest in a quarter of a century, falling from 250,000 tonnes in 2021 to 178,000 last year. María del Carmen Besada Meis, who heads the San Martiño fishers association in the Ría de Arousa, one of the principal sources of shellfish in the region, believes that climate change is the culprit, thanks in part to the recent torrential rains that have reduced the salinity of the rías. Over the past two years rainfall has been well above the average. “But we don’t have enough concrete evidence and what we’d like is for someone to come and do some proper research so that we know what’s behind this and what we can do about it,” she says.

Long seen as annoying creatures that can leave holes in your clothes, moths have been badly misjudged, say scientists.

New research suggests they play a vital role as overnight pollinators of a wide range of flowers and plants.

The study says that the moths' transport networks are larger and more complex than those of daytime pollinators like bees.

The authors believe there is an urgent need to stem declines in moth numbers.

US colleges attracting fewer new students from abroad

The number of foreign students heading to U.S. colleges and universities fell again last year, the second straight decline after more than a decade of growth, a new report finds.

Enrollmentof new international students dropped by about 7 percent in fall 2017, according to an annual report released Tuesday by the State Department and the Institute of International Education, a nonprofit research…